The Red Snow Falls
by SilverEyedAeorith
Summary: Blue and Tsume have been very together, but Hige's just failing with girl's! So when Kiba suggests that he try something new, how does that effect things with Hige and Blue? Are Hige and Blue really meant to be, or is it over for good?
1. Beginning of the End

Blue stumbled into her apartment that wasn't quite new, but wasn't old either, since it had been about two months since she moved out on her own. Tsume trailed behind her, his fingers entwined with hers, until he forced her against the wall, not violently, but roughly.

Blue could feel her heart racing in her chest. It was irritating to her that, while her blood ran hot with Tsume, she couldn't shake the thought that she almost wished it had been someone else.

"So, are we gonna quit on this one, too?" Tsume asked, letting his hands trail down Blue's sides. "If we aren't going to go all the way this time, you should let me know so I don't drive myself insane."

"I don't think I'll be able to stop this time," Blue sighed, kissing Tsume lightly on the lips, nipping playfully at his bottom lip. Blue let her curves fill themselves against Tsume's body as he deepened their kiss, his hand coming to a stop on her hip as he rolled his thumb against the bit of bone that could just barely be felt.

Blue moaned lightly as her skin erupted with goosebumps, and she felt Tsume harden even more against her. She ran her hands over Tsume's shoulders and let her fingers trail against the back of his neck. She could feel the shivers run down his body as he moved his lips from her and nibbled slightly on her chin, then down to the crook between her neck and the beginning of her shoulder, almost massaging her soft flesh between his teeth and tongue.

"Tsume," Blue whimpered. "I'm really going to get you back if you keep this up."

Somehow they had made it down the hallway to Blue's bedroom. Blue shifted her hand around behind her back before finding the doorknob and turning it, stumbling backwards a little bit.

"You're so traditional it's cute," Tsume muttered as he fiddled with the buttons on Blue's shirt.

Blue slid her hands up the front of Tsume's shirt, her fingers splayed across the solidness of his stomach and eventually his chest, the folded cloth of his shirt spilling around her forearms as she lifted his t-shirt over his head.

"Sorry," Blue sighed, wrapping her arms around Tsume's shoulders again. "I don't want to ruin the couch. Just got it a few months ago."

Tsume pushed Blue's unbuttoned shirt down her shoulders and off her arms, just letting it fall to the floor of her fairly clean bedroom. Blue shivered slightly at Tsume's touch as his fingers trailed up and down her arms lightly. She then realized that she was only wearing a bra and jeans and her cheeks flushed.

Tsume laughed. "Gosh, are you really that nervous?"

Blue shook her head. "No. You've just never seen my stomach before."

Tsume looked down at Blue's fairly flat stomach, then looked back up at her face.

"Tada! I have seen your stomach now." Tsume kissed Blue quickly on the cheek and tackled her onto the bed before she could protest.

"Lame!" Blue laughed as Tsume looked down at her.

"You can't seriously be trying to be all serious now," said Tsume with a shake of his head. "If it's because it's not perfectly flat, that's fine." He kissed her gently.

Blue simply sighed and succumbed to his kisses. She couldn't quite shake the butterflies in her stomach, but it wasn't like it mattered. Blue let her arms slide around Tsume, her hands splayed across his back, holding him as close to her as she could without disrupting their current activity. She'd finally found someone who provided the warmth that she needed. Now was not the time to be fretting.

Miles away a young man sitting at a small table in a coffee shop sneezed suddenly.

"Are you alright, Hige?" asked a blond girl sitting to his right.

Hige nodded."Yeah, it must be my allergies." He sniffed and sipped his coffee.

The girl took a small drink of her small smoothie, low sugar, low fat, no whipped cream. She was a little dainty for Hige's tastes, but Christie couldn't help but set him up with girl after girl.

'You're an awesome guy who's single!' she said energetically. 'Even if it didn't work for us, you're bound to find that special girl some day!'

Hige sighed. Not that he didn't appreciate Christie's efforts. She really was a sweet girl and all, but none of the girls he'd been set up with were really his type.

Raina was last weeks date. Tall, dark hair and eyes, very pretty. But way too timid, even after they'd gotten to know each other.

Allyson was his date for this week and she reminded him a terrible amount of Christie, except her eyes were brown, not green and her hair was a darker blond. Not to mention Allyson constantly worried about fat and sugar intake.

"I can't stand my own allergies," sighed Allyson. Hige repressed a "well, what are you not allergic to?" comment. She was entirely too sensitive.

"It must be bothersome being allergic to pretty much anything with fur," said Hige.

Allyson nodded. "Yeah. I had to get rid of this really nice doll my uncle got me in Africa while he was there. It had rabbit fur, so I broke out in hives and everything."

Hige raised his eyebrows and listened to Allyson talk while he drifted away in thought. Nothing seemed to work out with girls lately. It wasn't as if he didn't find these girls that Christie was trying to hook him up with attractive. They were all definitely very good looking. They just weren't the quirky Blue he was used to.

Hige shook his head. No, he didn't need to think about Blue while he was on a date. He couldn't compare every girl he saw to her, although it was tempting. It had just gotten to the point where he almost didn't even find most girls appealing any more. Not to mention Blue had almost completely dropped contact with him since she'd started dating Tsume.

Hige felt his stomach clench. Sure, Tsume seemed nice enough, but he just gave off the vibe of a player almost. Then again, he did break up with Blue, but he didn't want her dating someone he was suspicious of! He really did still care for her.

"Dang, Hige, you look lost in thought," said Allyson, poking him lightly on the shoulder.

Hige shook his head. "Sorry, stuff has just been a little odd lately."

Allyson nodded. "Well, hey, it's getting somewhat late. I'll call you later if that's okay?"

"Yeah, that would be fine." Hige stood up with Allyson. "I should be heading home, too. Work tomorrow."

"You work here, don't you?"

"Yeah," Hige beamed. "I'm the manager, so it's hard to get days off sometimes."

Allyson smiled and hitched her purse higher up on her shoulder. "Well, I have school tomorrow, so I won't be able to be on the phone late."

Hige nodded and held open the door for Allyson as she walked out. "See you later, Hige!"

Hige sighed and let the door close on it's own.

"Dang, Hige, you've been with a lot of girl's lately," said Kiba, the assistant manager.

Hige sat down. "Not really, only two."

"Since you've broken up with Blue, it's been quite a few." Kiba sat down at the table across from him. "I mean, maybe you should call it quits with chicks for a while."

Hige sighed. "Yeah, maybe you're right. I mean, last time I kinda just said screw it and I found Blue."

"That's not exactly what I meant, but sure," Kiba said with an embarrassed grin.

Hige felt his stomach clench and his face flush and pale at the same time. "You don't mean I should try guys, do you, Kiba?"

Kiba shrugged. "It's worth a shot. I mean, it worked for me in the end." He ran a few fingers through his thin black hair that it was obvious he worked hard to make look so nice. "Besides, who knows how a guy works better than another guy."

"That's a weird view on it, Kiba." Hige shook his head, hoping to hide his blushing.

"But it's true."

Hige sighed and put his face in his hands, pressing his palms against his eyes until he saw spots. This wouldn't have been so weird. He knew that Kiba was bi and had been avoiding girls like the plague, especially since his girlfriend, Cheza, had died from leukemia, but what Kiba was suggesting was just weird! At least it seemed so at first.

"Ok," said Hige looking up at Kiba. "Maybe you're kinda right about that, but it still doesn't mean that I like guys."

Kiba shrugged. "Right, well you can't say you don't. I'm not dumb."

Hige blushed even more. This was dumb, he was not gay!

"Right, well I gotta go home," Hige stood up, avoiding Kiba's eyes.

"Yeah, you should go home, I gotta close." Kiba shrugged and gave a small wave as Hige walked out of the coffee shop as quickly as he could.

He wanted to just look up at the sky and shout that he wasn't gay to whatever god was up there and that they needed to cut him some slack, but Kiba's words just rang in his head, and the longer he thought about them, the more he just wasn't sure any more.

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Finally, the last fic in this series of my writing! Don't worry, I'll keep writing Wolf's Rain stories, but they'll follow a different plot. If this is your first time reading this, please read The Frozen Lunar Flower, then Once In A Blue Moon. This is the sequel to those two fics. Don't kill me, please! lol. I promise, Blue and Hige will end up together in the end, ok? In the mean time, leave reviews! byes!


	2. In All Seriousness

Blue gave a slight yawn as she felt herself awaken from her sleep. She sat up in her bed, lifted up her arms and stretched before she turned and noticed Tsume sleeping beside her. Blue felt a bubble of pride and warmth burst in her chest as she looked at Tsume sleeping peacefully. She was tempted to trace that strange shaped scar on his chest with the tips of her fingers, but she resisted. It was almost too difficult, but somehow she managed.

Blue found a tshirt that had been thrown on the floor and put it on, glad that she liked oversized shirts instead of the smaller babydoll t's. They were not nearly as efficient in covering oneself.

Blue quietly made her way to the bathroom that was down the hall and turned on the shower as hot as it would go. She took off her shirt and threw it in the dirty clothes basket and looked at herself in the mirror before it got too foggy. Her hair had grown out a little, but still did it's flip out at least. The skin around her eyes was a little dark, either from her mascara and eyeliner, or from lack of sleep lately. Even though she'd only advanced a year in college, it seemed like the workload grew ten times. She leaned in a little closer to the mirror and looked at her neck. It was purple with bruises, and still covered in bite marks. Blue sighed and touched them gingerly. At least it was getting close to Fall so she could just wear something to cover the marks instead of having to bother with make up.

Twenty minutes later Blue emerged from the bath room, a large towel wrapped around her, and her hair freshly gelled with hair goo that smelled like, of course, peaches. Blue crept back into her room to find Tsume still asleep on her bed, but this time completely curled up in her pillows and sheets.

Blue sighed as she sat down on her bed and ran her fingers through Tsume's short, silverish hair, fiddling with the thin, short pony tail that extended to the nape of his neck.

"Hey, Tsume," Blue whispered, putting her hand on his bare shoulder. "Tsume, it's about time to get up."

Tsume grunted sleepily and rolled over, taking most of the blankets with him. Blue stretched over him and whispered a little closer to his ear. "Hey, get up, sleepy head." Tsume still continued to sleep, so Blue nibbled from the top cartilage of his ear down to his ear lobe and felt him shiver.

"Tsume, there's no way you're asleep through all that," whispered Blue in his ear again.

"Want to bet on that?" Tsume grumbled, rolling away from Blue.

"Yeah, you just talked, silly," smiled Blue. She lay down and curled her towel wrapped body against Tsume's sheet covered one. "Besides, don't you have work today?"

Tsume rolled over and looked at Blue intensely. "Nope. I'm all yours for the whole day." He trailed his fingers from Blue's ear lobe down to the tip of her chin and Blue felt her heart just melt. Tsume leaned in a kissed Blue gently on the lips; a kiss just as chaste as if they had been only twelve and on their first date.

"Why are you so tempting?" Blue sighed when their lips separated.

"Hm, because it's more fun that way."

... 

"Hey, Blue, how was your weekend?"

Blue turned to look at Christie who was waving at her and running spiritedly down the sidewalk. Blue stopped to wait for Christie.

"It was ok, how was yours?" replied Blue once Christie had caught up to her.

"It was actually pretty good." Christie caught her breath and flipped her long, silky blond pony tail over her shoulder. "I hooked Hige up with another one of my friends. He didn't quite click with the last one."

Blue felt a slight twinge of jealousy flare up. "Oh, is that so?"

Christie nodded. "Well, I figure that since you were able to find happiness with Tsume, that maybe Hige's feeling a little left out."

Blue shrugged as they walked up the steps.

"You aren't jealous, are you?" asked Christie, sensing Blue's obvious irritation and jealousy. "I mean, if he means that much to you, then just dump Tsume and go back to him."

"I can't do that," Blue said cooly. She stopped and looked at Christie, her rich blue eyes meeting Christie's emerald green one's in all seriousness. "Look, I love Hige. I'll admit that. But the fact is, he broke up with me, had sex with me, and then said he didn't want to be with me because it 'didn't feel right'. I'd go crawling back to him if he would take me back, but the fact is, he's not going to." Blue looked away. "So, I'm just gonna move on." Blue continued walking to class, not exactly wanting to wait for Christie any more.

"Hey, Blue, wait!" Christie ran after her and caught up quickly. "Look, Blue, if you really love Hige, then it should work. I know he cares about you!" Christie stood in front of Blue, obstructing her path and earning a death glare at the same time. "Even I saw that look he gave Tsume when he kissed you in front of him, and Hige was dating me!"

"That doesn't matter," Blue said quickly, walking around Christie.

"Um, hello? It does matter, Blue."

Blue gave a slight growl and turned to face Christie. "Look, Christie, I appreciate you trying to get him outta my thoughts and hair, but the fact is that he doesn't want me for whatever reason. I found someone else who takes care of me like Hige used to, and Hige obviously doesn't want that position or else he wouldn't have left it. He could turn gay for all I care right now, because nothing is going to change between us."

Blue turned away and continued walking to class, too busy fuming with anger to cry. Besides, crying was for high school girls. She was a sophomore in college and needed to get her act together anyway. There wasn't any time for childish games with boys.

Christie merely sighed and followed Blue to glass. The cheerful glow that surrounded her beach blond hair and tan skin seemed to have dimmed a little, or maybe that was just because they had officially walked into the artificially lit part of the building.

For the rest of the day, Blue was quiet and cool around Christie. As soon as class ended, she gathered up her books, left the school and headed to the day care where she worked during the week. Things were just going to get crazy if she started falling for Hige again; remembering his touch, his voice, his kisses. It was just too much trouble, and she couldn't lose both men in her life.

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Ok, sorry the second chapter was kinda short. I wanna try and make my chapters a lot longer, but I thought that this chapter was pretty good and to the point, despite it's shortness. ; Anyways, please don't forget to leave reviews! Thanks for reading!


	3. We Were Wolves

"Thanks and have a nice day," said Hige cheerfully as he handed hopefully the last customer of his shift their iced mocha latte.

"Geez," he sighed when the woman had finally left the shop, which was now void of customers. "Who would have thought that coffee was so essential."

"Just be glad the rush hour is over," breathed Kiba, wiping his apron across his brow. "I mean, we can pretty much count on a four hour break."

Hige nodded and grabbed a small cup and poured himself some plain, black coffee. "Well, still. This is completely insane."

"No, what's insane is that you drink your coffee black." Kiba grabbed an iced green tea from the small refrigerator where they kept milk, energy drinks, and sodas. "It's way too bitter."

"It's called strong, Kiba." Hige pulled out a chair from one of the tables near the register. "A much better pick me up than anything else. Caffine is, like, God."

"I agree with you on that," Kiba said loudly, with a mock "here here" tone in his voice.

"Kiba, you dumbass, " sighed Hige. "That green tea is decaffinated."

"And?" Kiba screwed the cap back on the bottle and looked at the label, which did indeed declare the contents decaffinated. "I can still agree with you."

Hige shrugged and looked back out the window as people passed by, not bothering to stop in because they would be late for work otherwise.

"Besides," Kiba leaned in on the table. "I would leave it to you to know about food."

Hige felt his eye twitch in irritation. "Are you calling me fat?" He glared at Kiba. Sure, he'd known the guy for a few months and he was pretty cool, but cool did not cancel out weird.

"No," said Kiba defensively. "Personally I think you're just the right size. More cushion for the pushin'."

"Kiba, I am this close from kicking you," Hige crossed his arms across his chest. This was just getting a little too crazy for his liking, and Kiba was going to stop dicking around and get to the point.

"Naw, what I meant by the food comment is," Kiba looked off into space, as if in thought. "Well, never mind, you'll think I'm nuts."

Hige rolled his eyes and didn't even bother sighing. "Look, I won't think you're nuts, okay?"

"Alright," said Kiba. "Now, you just can't spazz out at me when I tell you." Hige continued to look rather bored and irritated. "Ok, ok. I knew you in a past life."

"Kiba, that's-"

Kiba put up his hand. "Nope, you said you wouldn't call me nuts. Just here me out. When Cheza was...healthy...she was kind of a medium."

"You mean like a psychic?"

"Yeah. It was amazing! Like when I first met her, her eyes lit up and we just connected. Then she told me everything about our past lives together and she said that there were others."

"Others?" Hige looked at him curiously. "How many others exactly? And other whats?"

"Well, you see, that's the thing. In our past lives, we were wolves. And we were searching for Paradise."

Hige raised an eyebrow, but continued to listen, mildly intrigued. He had to admit, it didn't sound too farfetched, but he wasn't sure why exactly.

"There was you, me, Cheza, and three others. One girl and two boys."

"And let me guess," sighed Hige. "You have no idea who these others are?"

Kiba shook his head. "Nope. Not a clue. Cheza could point them out on sight. She pointed you out to me."

"I never met Cheza." Hige shook his head, confused.

"No, you didn't. But do you remember the day I came in to get an application?"

Hige shook his head. "Vaguely. Wait, the girl who was in here with you. She was kind of frail, had pinkish hair and smelled like flowers. Was that Cheza?" Kiba nodded.

Hige pieced it all together in his mind. Somehow it all made sense, but at the same time he wasn't exactly sure how.

"I'm guessing you believe me?" asked Kiba, taking a sip of his tea, now that the conversation had lightened.

Hige shrugged, then stood up and tossed his remaining coffee in the trash since it had gotten cold. "I have no reason not to. Besides, I need to sort things out."

"Like what?"

"I want to find out who the others are."

Kiba simply shook his head. "Look, there isn't really any way you'll be able to do that."

Hige turned to face him and crossed his arms over his chest. It was only after lunch and he was already irritated. "Oh really? I'll figure something out."

"But Hige, that's a little-" Kiba heard the little bell placed over the door tinkle and stopped mid-sentence.

"Hige, I really need your help on this one!" Christie came bounding through the door, her long blond pony tail bouncing like a 5th graders, as if eager to tell a secret she'd just learned on the play ground.

Kiba gave her a look of pure annoyance, while Hige simply shrugged as if to say 'you get used to it'.

"Look, Hige, Blue is really pissed off at me." Christie leaned against the counter. "I mean, how do you deal with her when she's irritated?"

"Geez, Hige, you really do have a problem with ex girlfriend's, don't you," added Kiba.

Christie glared at him. "Look, I don't know who you are, but shut up. You don't even know Blue." Christie turned back towards Hige, hoping for an answer.

"Well," Hige thought for a few seconds. "It depends. Was she crying? Because if she's crying, then hugging and talking sweetly works well. If she was fuming mad, then space is a good idea. And an apology."

"Oh, alright." Christie beamed. "Well, I'll definitely be apologizing to her then."

"Why? What happened?"

Christie sighed. "Let's just say you both are very complicated people who need to figure out what you want. Bye!" Christie strut out of the coffee shop with her newly found advice, leaving Hige quite flustered. That had to be the most intelligent thing he'd ever heard her say.

"Geez, Hige, why do you look so surprised?" Kiba asked, flicking Hige's forehead with his fore and his middle fingers.

"No reason. Christie just isn't famous for her smart remarks."

"I see." Kiba looked around and saw that no one was there. "So, this Blue chick. I'm guessing she's an ex girlfriend?"

Hige sighed and nodded. Honestly, he was getting rather tired of everyone associating the two of them together so often. It was almost like he wasn't even his own person any more.

"Is she good looking?"

Hige smacked the counter and glared at Kiba. "Look, don't be telling me that I should turn gay one night and then the next day be asking me if my ex girlfriend is hott. She's amazing if that's a good enough answer for you."

Kiba shrugged. "There are good points about being bi you know."

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Gah, I tried so hard to make this chapter long, I did! I actually thought it was pretty long and then I uploaded it, looked at the word count and was like "WTF?" Anyways, I was told by Sora that she wanted to hear more about their past lives. And I decided that, hey, it would toss things up a bit, even more than things are being tossed. xD So, leave reviews, suggestions, anything! If you as a question, I'll reply to you directly. Thanks for reading!


	4. Done

Blue bent studiously over her laptop as she typed rapidly. It had pretty much been established the year before not to put off homework and papers, mainly because they were complete terrors to start on the night before they were due, but with everything going through her mind, she'd totally forgotten.

Hitomi rubbed her arched back against Blue's bare ankles, purring. Blue sighed and bent down to scratch Hitomi behind the ears.

"You know," she sighed. "High school was a lot easier. Your teachers didn't read your papers half the time."

Hitomi mewed and walked off to the other part of the kitchen where her food bowl sat in the floor next to her cat jungle gym. Blue glanced over to the empty bowl and with a sigh, saved her file before getting up to feed Hitomi.

"If I forget about this paper because you made me get up and away from the computer, I blame you."

Hitomi simply meowed and crunched the cat kibble between her pointy little teeth. Blue yawned and looked out the open window next to the dining room/kitchen table. The full moon was barely visible behind the thin clouds, but Blue would see the outline of its glow. She felt a slight pang in her chest as she pondered going outside for a walk. It was hardly midnight, but still, she had work to do.

Blue sighed exasperatedly and walked over to the front door to grab a pair of converse. She'd never really worn them before, but Tsume had insisted that they were the most comfortable shoes ever. However, it would be terrible to tell him she agreed, only because he would smirk and talk playfully about how he was right.

Once she had laced up her high tops, she grabbed her house key off the hanger, tucked it in her pocket, and walked outside. The late summer/early autumn air was slightly still, but there was a slight movement of wind occasionally. Blue walked down the stairs, her hands in her pockets, unsure exactly what she was doing outside. The stairs weren't closed in like they had been at her previous place with Hige, so Blue glanced at the sky as she walked down each step.

When Blue reached the bottom of the stairs, she looked up and down the empty street. The street lamps lit up the sidewalk so it wasn't totally dark, but they were totally unnecessary because the full moon illuminated enough, even being behind the clouds. She simply shrugged and started walking, not quite sure where she planned on going. Blue just let the silence take over her and let her mind clear. Why was she feeling so sad? If you could even call it that. She felt more empty than sad, almost like something was missing.

Blue looked at the other apartments that she was walking past. She shook her head and continued walking. Walks were bad ideas because they caused thinking, which caused confusion.

"Blue, what are you doing out this late?"

Blue turned around and saw Hige standing behind her, his arms crossed around his chest. She felt her stomach give a slight jolt. Probably from nerves, but she wasn't sure.

"I could say the same to you," replied Blue cooly. She stood, her feet apart, in her 'I'm so irritated with you' stance, but it didn't look or feel nearly as intimidating with converse on.

Hige shrugged. "Well, my work hours haven't changed since you moved out."

Blue nodded and let out a deep, slow breath.

"Well, I haven't seen you in a while. How have you been?"

Blue shrugged. "I've been decent. How about you?"

"Same. Are you still with Tsume?"

"Yeah, you aren't thinking about getting back with me, are you?" Blue felt her anger rise up in her chest.

Hige shook his head. "No, Blue." He sighed then looked at the sky. "You know we're just friends."

"Then stop giving being so uptight about Tsume," snapped Blue.

Hige glared at her. "I'm not being uptight about him. I'm happy you've found someone else you're happy with."

Blue huffed. "Well you sure could have fooled me."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not oblivious, Hige! I saw that look you gave him when he kissed me. Christie saw it too."

"Look, Blue, I wasn't pissed, I was irritated. You could have had more tact than that." Hige crossed his arms and faced her.

"And you just had loads of tact yourself, hanging all over Christie." Blue shrugged. "I don't need this from you. I have a paper to finish."

"Maybe if you hadn't always been working on something, it would have lasted," Hige spat bitterly as Blue pushed past him.

Blue clenched her fists around the fabric of her jacket. She wouldn't cry. She was so tired of just crying whenever something like this would happen.

Blue shrugged and kept walking. Home wasn't far away. As she walked away she looked up at the sky. Things really were a lot easier in high school, but back then she would have taken the bait and finished the argument. No, if she didn't grow up now, she might not ever.

Hige felt his stomach lurch. He couldn't have really said that, no way. But it was clear from Blue's reaction that his mouth was one thing he had not kept shut.

"Hey, look, Blue," he said as he took a step towards her.

Blue held up her hand, still not looking at him.

"I don't want to hear it, Hige. I'm done." Blue kept walking, but picked up her pace, and Hige just watched her leave.

Hige looked away when Blue had turned the corner, not quite sure what to do. He sighed and decided it would be best to walk home. There really wasn't anything he could do at that point anyway.

Once Hige walked through the door of his apartment, he suddenly felt lonely. There were so many memories, everywhere, and even though he admitted that it made him sad that Blue was gone, it just hadn't felt right any more. That special jump he used to get when he looked at her smile, the jittery feeling he used to feel whenever she just brushed against him, it died. Hige had no idea why, but it just wasn't there any more.

He collapsed on the couch, totally unused to having it all to himself. Even after it had been about a year of coming home to no one, it never felt right to curl up on it alone. Not any more anyways. Hige closed his eyes and drifted into an uneasy sleep.

Hige woke up later to a buzzing in his pocket. He reached into his jeans, pulled out his phone and flipped it open.

"Hello?" he half grumbled into the receiver.

"Hey, Hige, what's up?"

"Kiba, do you have any idea what time it is?" Hige rolled over to face the back of the couch. He resolved that he would get off the phone, then go back to sleep for, oh, another century.

"Yeah, do you? It's one in the afternoon."

Hige sighed and rubbed his forehead with his fingers strongly. It usually helped him wake up, kind of.

"Ok, so I got to bed late. What's up?"

"Nothing really. Hey, I was wondering if you were doing anything today."

Hige shook his head. "Nope. Today was my of day, so I figured I would sleep, but from the tone of your voice, it sounds like you have no intention of letting me."

"Of course I don't," said Kiba with a slight laugh. "It's your off day."

"Exactly why being left alone would be nice," Hige grumbled.

"Well, I kinda wanted to, I don't know, hang out or something?"

"Maybe later tonight," Hige rolled over again. "To be honest, I just want to get back sleep."

"Alright," said Kiba. "I guess I'll just call you later tonight then?"

"Alright, that'll be cool. Later." Hige snapped his phone shut and put it on the table, then rolled back over so he could catch some more sleep. He tried to ignore that weird feeling in his stomach. It felt oddly like butterflies, but that couldn't have been it. No, Hige was probably just hungry.

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. Ok, well, a little longer than it has been lately. xD I got into a big fight with one of my friends and I was kinda...moody. Lol but it's all good and I'm writing again. Got a bit of inspiration actually. Anyways, you know what to do! Read and review please. Sorry this chapter isn't super long. I tried! 


	5. Girl's Night In

"Wow, Blue, you look dead on your feet," said Christie after they handed in their papers. "I mean, you told me you had a rough night, but it looks like you got hit over the head with a bat."

Blue rubbed her temples as she slung her messenger bag over her shoulder. "Yeah, well, it was a little more than rough. My eyes were so puffy this morning that I had to slice cucumbers and put them over my eyes to stop the swelling."

Christie stood in front of Blue, determined. "Look, I know crap is going on with you and Hige, and it's obvious that both of you still have feelings for each other. So why aren't you just going to get back together?"

Blue crossed her arms. "I really don't need this conversation, Christie. I'm running off of hardly any sleep."

Blue tried to push past Christie. She was so tired of hearing that her and Hige needed to get together again. It was hard to even imagine how much Tsume must feel about the whole thing too.

"Hey, Blue," sighed Christie catching up with Blue. "I know you're tired, but do you want to like, maybe go get our nails done or something?"

Blue looked down at her fingernails and flushed. She hated her nails, not to mention she really didn't have much of a budget for simple things like getting your nails done.

"I don't know, Christie. It can be awful expensive, and I'm paying for everything right now. I'm lucky I have today off."

Christie put her hand on Blue's shoulder. "Look, Blue, you need a day to yourself. How about we go to one of those stores in town that sells beauty stuff and we grab some things so we can just have a sort of girl's night in?"

"I still can't pay for it," sighed Blue. She pulled her wallet out of her small purse and opened it. "I have two hundred dollars to last me until the end of the month, and that includes groceries. I already paid my bills, thank God, so I don't have to worry about that."

"Look, Blue, my dad just sent me a lot of cash. I'll buy the stuff, but the fact is that you need a day without boys. So no, Tsume can't come over."

Blue laughed and looked at Christie. "You know," she said, her expression softened. "You really are a good friend, Christie."

Christie beamed. "I try. You know, I'm glad I met you. Otherwise I would probably be just as annoying as I used to be."

Blue smiled and raised her eyebrow as they walked towards town. She actually liked living downtown, especially since everything was within walking distance.

The store where most of the female population bought their beauty items was a rather large shop, and even had a small nail salon next to it. Blue and Christie walked into the colorful shop. Along the walls were shelves of nail polish, hair dye, eye shadow, liner, mascara and other weird goos and powders.

"Can I help you ladies?" asked the young girl at the cashier. Blue found it odd to be called 'lady' by her since she looked to be about their age, if not younger.

"Yeah," replied Christie cheerfully. Christie explained to the girl their plans.

"Oh, my girlfriends and I do that all the time!" said the cashier cheerfully. "I always feel so much better the next morning, and I usually look better too. Unless we end up trying some weird, off the wall product, then things can get a little weird."

While Christie and the girl at the register chatted and chose products for Blue and Christie's 'girl night', Blue wandered around the store, looking at all the odd products. She picked up a bottle of neon green mascara and held it next to her eyes, looking in the mirror that was next to the tubes of mascara.

Green was definitely not her color. Blue shook her head and sorted through all the others. Normally, she wore jet black mascara and black eyeliner. The black made her bright blue eyes pop even more than usual, so she rarely needed to draw attention to her eyes.

Blue picked up a tube of glitter mascara. She unscrewed the cap and looked at the glitter that covered the applicator brush. Blue closed it and looked at the bottom for a price sticker. The mascara was only one-fifty, so she could afford it.

Blue walked back to the register where Christie had accumulated a pile of beauty products, including several bright colors of nail polish, glitters, and even stickers for your nails.

"I wish I could splurge this much," sighed the cashier as she scanned all the items. "I'm still in high school, though, so I can't have a job that pays enough."

"I got scholarships," said Christie cheerfully. "I'm not paying for any of my school, so I can take all my money and spend it as I like."

Blue put the glitter mascara on the belt, behind the rest of the items. The cashier looked at it and scanned it once she had finished with Christie's purchases, which totally to a little over fifty dollars.

"Is this all you're going to get?" she asked.

Blue nodded. "Yeah. I pay for everything myself, so I don't have much to spend."

The cashier nodded. "I think I'll definitely pull my grades up after talking to you two."

Blue laughed. "No, I have a scholarship and everything. I just live on my own." Blue pocketed the mascara and her receipt. "But not having a car makes everything so much easier."

br 

/br 

Later that night when Blue and Christie were at Blue's apartment, Christie was busy raiding Blue's tea cabinet.

"Geez, Blue, do you have enough tea?"

Blue shrugged as she filled the kettle with water.

"Not sure," she replied cheerfully. "You know, I'm really glad that you decided to come over. I think I really did need someone to stay with me tonight and make me feel better."

"See, Blue, I know what I'm talking about." Christie pulled down a box of orange tea. "Is this one ok?"

Blue nodded as Christie handed her two tea bags.

"I know how you're really anal about people drinking your peach tea," said Christie as she put back the box of orange tea. "You never did tell me why, though."

Blue flushed as she remembered the incident.

"It's really embarrassing," she muttered. "And it has something to do with Hige."

"Well, spill it!" Christie pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and sat on it, facing Blue. "It doesn't matter if it's a long story either because we have all night."

Blue sighed. "Alright. You really want to know?"

Christie nodded like a little kid who had just asked her mother about the Tooth Fairy.

"Ok, so the reason why I like peach so much, in a nut shell, is that the first time Hige and I...um...yeah, well I was wearing peach lip gloss."

"That's why you like peach stuff so much?" asked Christie, obviously holding back a laugh.

"You can laugh, you know!" laughed Blue right before Christie burst into a fit of laughter. "I mean, I know it's dumb, but I eventually associated peaches with Hige, so yeah."

"But of all things, peaches?" Christie had stopped laughing.

Blue nodded. She put her hands in her pockets and felt the mascara, having completely forgotten that she'd bought it.

"Oh yeah," said Blue as she pulled it out of her pocket. "I forgot about this."

"Well, go on and put it on. I'm curious as to what it looks like on you," said Christie.

Blue shrugged and walked back into her bathroom, put the mascara and came back out to show Christie.

"I think it's actually a bit too attention grasping," said Blue.

Christie shook her head. "No way! It's perfect on you, especially because of your eyes. Hardly anyone would be able to pull that off."

Blue shrugged and looked at her reflection in the stove. "I guess it's ok."

"Trust me, it is. Tsume will fall on his face when he sees you once I'm finished."

Blue raised her eyebrow suspiciously. "He isn't in on this, is he?"

Christie shook her head. "I just want you to be happy, Blue. It hurts to see you beating yourself up over the whole thing with Hige, even though I swear that you two are meant for each other. You are happy with Tsume, when he's with you anyway."

Blue nodded. "Tsume does make me happy. He's there for me, he respects me, and that's everything I've always wanted. I just can't forget what I had with Hige."

Christie nodded. "It's hard to forget what you and Hige had. He talked about you a lot before we started dating. He really respected and cared about you, but I guess, I don't know."

"Boys are dumb," sighed Blue. "But you're still a good friend, no matter what."

Christie beamed. "A girl needs three things, you know."

"And what are those three things?" asked Blue.

"Love to make her weak, alcohol to make her strong, and best friends to pick her up when both things make her hit the floor!"

Blue and Christie laughed, good and loud, poured themselves orange tea, and proceeded to talk about the idiocy of the male half of the species until the wee hours of the morning.

hr 

/hr 

A/N: Hey everyone! I am currently crossing my fingers and hoping that this chapter is long enough. Since the last chapter was kind of, lets face it, upsetting, I decided to make this one much happier. I honestly like writing happy chapters more. Really. :) Don't forget to read and write reviews! Reviews let me know that people are enjoying the story, or at least reading it.


	6. Complicated Kisses

Hige had just finished tying his shoelaces when he heard his doorbell ring.

"Coming!" he called as he used the couch to push himself up. Hige unlocked the door and opened it, not at all surprised to see Kiba there.

"Yo," Kiba grinned.

Hige laughed and stepped aside with a shake of his head.

"Thanks for not dragging my ass out of the apartment," said Hige after he'd closed the door.

"Right," said Kiba suspiciously. "Which is exactly why you put on shoes."

Hige looked down at his sneakers and flushed. "Well, it's normal for me to think I'm going somewhere." Hige shrugged. "People haven't actually come over since Blue and I-" Hige looked away.

"Look, Hige," said Kiba seriously. "Blue's out of your life now. You don't have to keep thinking about her. Move on, because by the look of things, she certainly has."

Hige sighed, his light and not-so-upset mood having been completely shredded by the thought of Blue. "Sometimes I'm really not so sure. It just felt so odd with her, but now that she's gone, I wonder if I was only afraid that things would have worked with us."

Hige kicked off his shoes next to where Kiba had set his and sat on the couch. Kiba sat next to him, and Hige turned on the television.

Neither Hige nor Kiba spoke for the next half hour, unless it was to comment on something on the show they were watching.

Hige glanced at Kiba out of the corner of his eye. Well, he couldn't deny that Kiba was attractive, but guys were just never the thing for him. Or at least they never had been. All Hige could think about were the things that Kiba had said. What if he should give Kiba a try? He couldn't just wait around for Blue, even if that was absolutely not what he was doing.

"Dang, Hige, what has you thinking so hard?" asked Kiba with a slight laugh.

Hige was brought out of his thoughts quickly. "Nothing really." Hige felt the warmth creep up to his cheeks. Oh no, he was so not blushing.

"Sure," Kiba said sarcastically. "And that's exactly why you're blushing. You were thinking about Blue weren't you."

"No I wasn't!" Hige looked away. Well, it was either do or die at this point. Sink or swim. "I, well, I was thinking about you actually." Hige flushed and felt more like sinking.

"Seriously?" Kiba looked rather surprised. "I mean, I thought you weren't going to go for guys."

"Well, has it worked for you?" sighed Hige. "Since Cheza died, I mean. Have you been happier with guys?"

Kiba thought about it for a minute. "Well, yeah." He paused. "But of course, that's only because I've never met another girl like Cheza."

Hige simply nodded.

"Look, you should think about it before jumping into anything like that," said Kiba. "But I think I should probably go now. No offense, but it's kind of gotten a little awkward."

"No, wait!" rushed Hige as Kiba stood up to leave. Hige grabbed onto his hand and Kiba sighed and sat down.

"Hige, you really don't seem all together right now."

Hige huffed. "I'm perfectly together. You're right, I should experiment a little bit. I mean, I'm young, I have time."

Kiba nodded. "Yeah, that is true." Kiba was sorely tempted to tell Hige that he couldn't just try things with people, especially since emotions always got involved, but he just didn't have the heart to.

"Look," Hige took in a deep breath. His stomach filled with butterflies that he'd never even noticed were there. "You'd made an offer, right?"

"Are you talking about the other day?" asked Kiba.

Hige nodded. "Yeah."

"Hige, have you even kissed a guy before?" Kiba looked at him curiously.

Hige flushed and shook his head. Kiba simply sighed and leaned closer to Hige, their lips almost touching. "I can stop any time you want me to."

So many ideas ran through Hige's head. Dammit, the problem with choosing swim over sink, do over die, is that you actually have to go through with it. He could smell Kibas after-shave, or soap, or something. Whatever it was, the smell was completely intoxicating and clouded his mind way too much.

Before Hige could shrug it off and say 'screw it', he let his lips press against Kiba's. Kiba didn't deepen the kiss or anything, it was just simple and chaste, almost like his first kiss, which in a sense it was a first kiss.

Kiba pulled away after a few seconds. "Well, now you've kissed a guy. Any sparks or ideas as to what you're going to do?"

Hige shook his head. The butterflies in his stomach, in fact, had worsened, and not to mention something else had grown along with the amount of fluttery insects in his stomach.

Author's note: Hey everyone! I'm really sorry for the shortness of this chapter. Gah, I wanna kick myself b/c I can't seem to make them longer! Anyways, please keep reviewing, I seem to be at a slight standstill, and reviews help with that. Honestly! But I would like to ask everyone how many chapters they would like to see for this fic. I wasn't exactly sure. I'm thinking about 12, but if anyone else has any ideas of any sort, please let me know.Thanks! Aeorith


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